Oddest reunion and other things

Everyday I'm reminded of my trip to Europe and everyday I'm reminded why I love meeting new people. Mainly meeting people who love to travel.
Yesterday I had the craziest moment. I was taking pictures of sunset and out walks a guy whose looking at me funny. Immediately I'm thinking I know this person, and before my brain figures it out I'm blurting out "oh shit that's rick". Hahaha as soon as I said it my mind went back to u12 soccer when I was 9 years old. My mind was boggled, how am I in Costa Rica and seeing someone I haven't seen in my own hometown in 6-7 years plus. It was great to see him, hear about his life, the yoga, the foood, the life and the dream he is living.
Today we got a surf lesson and were out on the ocean for 2 hours. It was a blast, caught some good waves. Wiped out a bunch and added to my collection of sore muscles and bruises! We will be back out by 4pm for another session and then stay for sunset!
The people on this trip are awesome, we got drinking and playing games last night. It was a lot of fun, a lot of laughs.
My napping has been often and timing hasn't always been great. I napped after dinner last night and came back out for drinks. Not ideal but you gotta work with what you got.
Anyways, time to tan. :)

Happy New Year & All That Jazz

It’s that time…I owe everyone a blog update and I owe myself the tranquillity that the writing brings me.

Things have changed since I last blogged, but my life is always changing and that’s why I love it! My photography is still slow going and will be a continual work in progress, however I have met up with a Wedding and Event Planner! It was a great coffee date that went in nothing but the right direction; we will be working together this year on building both of our portfolios! I am super excited and although it might be work that’s not paid…it will one day all pay off!

I am still working in retail at the children’s clothing store Ivivva and honestly love my job there. The company is really inspiring on the basis of goal setting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I’ve always had goals in the back of my mind…but writing them down, showing the world what they are, and making a “by when” finish date makes the goal seem more achievable. I’ve got some goals I’m aiming to complete in 2014; I will share one from each category personal, career, and health!

Personal: Scuba Diving Certification by August 2014

Career: Shoot one Wedding as the main photographer or second photographer by December 2014

Health: Have my percentage of body fat at or below 20% by July 2014

My only complaint is since Christmas I haven’t been getting enough hours. This one complaint has me on the lookout for another job, one that’s flexible!

Recently I was in Hawaii with a friend from College…She conveniently decided to run her first marathon in Maui. Also convenient that she had no one tagging along for the adventure! I gladly stepped up to the plate and so happy I did. I had an amazing time in an absolutely gorgeous place. If you haven’t been I highly suggest you put Maui on the list. It’s incredible and warm and perfect and I want to be back there!! We got to go surfing, snorkeling and kayaking. I have a soft spot for surfing, I find it incredibly fun and have now been three times…and can’t wait to go again. I hadn’t been kayaking before so I found it fun and the spots we stopped to snorkel were neat! I swam with some turtles, literally could have touched them if that wasn’t frowned upon! We also lucked out completely and had the luxury of being present to a baby humpback whale and it’s “playtime”. I couldn’t believe it, probably 20 feet away from us out popped a baby whale slapping in the water, twisting, turning and just having a grand time. You could see the shadows of mom and dad under us…absolutely massive animals. It was impressive and truly a unique experience! I’m a little sad I am already back home in the cold, but these trips are the ones that give me the motivation to save my money for more travelling!

My life is full of workouts these days as I try to lean out and build upper body strength. Since summer I have lost about 20 pounds and feel better about myself and happier in general. I have a great friend who works out with me 6 days a week at the Universities gym. It’s a huge help to have someone to go to the gym with, it’s motivation to finish the workouts and to stay on track. My social life is rather boring, everyone is back in school and broke…actually we’ve always been broke we just pretend we have money during winter break and the occasional weekend. Funny enough on one of those “pretending to have money” weekends back in October I ended up meeting a guy I am now dating. Turns out boys don’t have cooties; a lie I was told in kindergarten only to find out at age 20 that some guys are pretty all right. My dog seems to like him and he’s been rather kind to me so I’ll keep him until given reason otherwise. Haha.

In the world of narcolepsy and meds…

Slowly but surely cataplexy has entered back into my life, nothing of the collapsing sort or the disabling type. Just the face weakness I remember from high school. It could be from the simple fact that I find myself and my friends to be hilarious… or the actual and pure fact that I am tired. It never seems to happen in the day, but usually at night and late and it’s usually from reading a ridiculous text from a friend, joking around with someone or just plain funny things. It’s almost as if I go to giggle and laugh that my face lacks control and causes me to frown. It’s like cataplexy hates laughter or seeing you happy and it’s got to let you know…either way it’s not debilitating or anything and I am perfectly fine.

I did however get a new prescription yesterday. I’ve always taken 54mg of Concerta…occasionally I’ll take 72 mg or low doses like 18mg on days of naps and no driving. It’s been working but I’ve been also feeling like I don’t realise that I need the 72mg until it’s too late in the day. Since Concerta is 12 hour medication I can’t really take it past 10:30. It’s been between 12-4 that I’ve noticed “I might not make it to the end of the day”. Medicating with Caffeine isn’t ideal because of the crash I feel after and the broken sleep it causes on an already broken enough sleep. All this being said my doctor has prescribed me the regular short acting Ritalin. Just the low dose of 5mg…hoping it helps and I am able to make good use of it on the days where I am struggling at noon! Will keep you posted on this in future!

Last but certainly not least I wanted to introduce a new blog I have found. It’s just up and running recently and I’m inspired and happy to see a young narcoleptic taking the time to blog. His family is helping him; clearly doing a great job at supporting him with school and extra activities. Normal is all we want in our lives, especially when we are young and trying to fit in. I wish him nothing but the best in his journey and look forward to reading the blog!

http://www.narcolepsykid.com/

Enjoy your day!

Life's not good it's great;

I don’t know where to start; honestly I am so grateful and humbled by the people who have emailed me both recently and in the past. This blog was never intended to be anything more than sharing my experiences as a narcoleptic. My life is above average for a narcoleptic, and I’m happy that this life of mine is inspiring the life of others. I honestly figured that most people who read it would be my friends, family members and past teachers. To see how far its gone in 3 years boggles my mind, to see how many people view my blog monthly astonishes me. I feel whole when I write this blog and I feel uplifted and ecstatic that I have inspired, motivated or given hope to people around the world. Truthfully your emails encourage me to be a better person, motivate me to write more and give me faith that the future of narcoleptics is positive. So for that I thank you, you all are wonderful people and I hope in the near future I am able to make it to a Narcolepsy Conference to meet you all.

My life is looking pretty promising from where I am sitting. If you’ve followed along on my blog for a while or know me personally you’ll have known I went to school for photography. You also may have realised that since college I’ve done next to nothing in the photography world. It was kind of unintentionally intentional. I think taking a year and a bit off was one the best decisions I made. I know my parents wanted me to or at least questioned why I didn’t dive right into my career and start a business. However for me, I think I would have gave up on it within the first month. There was moments I even questioned if photography was where I wanted a career; I think it was just the simple fact that I don’t like being told what to do and school was a lot of that! ;)

I realised that it’s not like I was sick of photography, but I was sick of having people to please and my crafts being what pleased everyone. I love photography, I get a real joy out of creating images and peoples reactions to them…however after school I had had enough of the go go go and needed some slow down and breath time. Quite frankly it’s been really good for me, I’ve been able to focus on other things, and now realign my heart into photography.

With my heart back in it I’ve decided to invest my energy and time into my career. I realise it’s going to take a few years to be where I want, perhaps even longer. However the longer I wait to start, the longer it will take to get where I want to be. Ultimately I want to be making a living off my photography; the end goal would be solely working as a photographer. It will take a while, but I do believe in myself and I do think talent will overcome the obstacle of everyone being a “photographer” these days.

I’ve had a few shoots in the recent months, family, couples, maternity and a shoot with a friend and her horses. It’s been really fun and I’ve learned from each shoot. I don’t claim to know everything about photography; yes I went to school but I’ll always be learning or finding new ways of doing things. I’m basically just working towards expanding my art and getting my name out and work out there.

My mom gave me some of the best advice the other night. “You will attract the kind of clients you want by doing what you love”. My mom was a dog breeder for years, a well established one and never once did she advertise; people who were wanting what she had to offer came looking for her and her boxers. She didn’t have to advertise and her clients all appreciated what she did and were always loyal. It’s sometimes hard to understand that logic, but I don’t want to be a photographer for someone once. I want the customers that come back for each milestone; the clients who rave about me to friends and the people that seek me out. One day I’ll be there, for now I will continue to put in the work. I will continue to love my job and let that love for my job do the work.

If you have facebook please like my photography page; it would be a huge help. 

www.facebook.com/SarahBeauPhotography

You can also visit my website; check the blog for recent photo shoots!

www.sarahbeauphotography.com

Thank you so much! 

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Book Review: Wide Awake And Dreaming

Merry Christmas!

It was an honor and a pleasure to be able to read a book that so much heart and passion was put into. Wide Awake and Dreaming was a trouble-free read that left me consuming the novel all in one day.

Julie Flygare has been an inspiration to me since day one of my diagnosis of both Narcolepsy and Cataplexy. Ever since finding her REMrunner blog I have had a constant positive role model who made a choice to overcome Narcolepsy, not suffer from it. Three years have passed and her writing has been an endless source of positive energy and has contributed to creating my own positive future.

In the beginnings of her book I found myself relating to every single question she raised on her pursuit to a diagnosis. The detail and the description Julie writes with had me questioning if in fact I wasn’t reading my own memoir. Whether she was sleeping in class or thinking up absurd ways to stay awake I was right there reminiscing my High School days. Julie sent me on a roller coaster of emotions; her words brought laughter, but they also brought tears as I was reminded of some of my own darkest day. It’s a book of struggles, lost dreams, uncertainty, but most of all it’s a book about rising above an illness and achieving what once was the unthinkable.

            The community of narcoleptics or PWN (person with narcolepsy) owes a huge thank you and a huge round of applause to Julie for not only writing a book, but for writing a memoir we all can relate to. Flygare’s writing goes into detail about the challenges we face not just with the sleepiness but the emotional and physical battles we constantly endure. Julie continues to be a upbeat advocate for people living with Narcolepsy with contagious optimism. I thank her for having the courage to talk about her narcolepsy/cataplexy in such a raw way but also for being brave enough to let it hit the shelves.

            I strongly recommend and encourage Wide Awake and Dreaming. It’s a must read for anyone who has encountered Narcolepsy and or Cataplexy, whether you are a family member, a friend, or the person who is confronting it first hand you will find inspiration and endless knowledge in all 213 pages! 

The Memoir can be found and purchased below:

Wide Awake and Dreaming

Jumble of Irrelevant Thoughts;

Six Meaningless Meanderings

• Exams and studying sucks therefore I have managed to procrastinate and find myself on blogger rather than buried in my text book.
• This morning during my last lecture for Financial Accounting I came to the realization that there are three days left of school and I have yet to even comprehend what happened in the first three weeks of my Accounting class.
• I have acquired a lot of stuff in just two years, I have a lot of clothes, a lot of shoes and by a lot I actually mean I have too many to fit in three bags.
• I am super excited for Thursday because Thursday is when school is over, and Thursday is when I get to go to the cities to spend my last night with my best friend. We will be eating junk food and drinking wine, and celebrating the end of both our times here at this particular college.
• Not only do I get to see my family on Friday but I get to see my favourite thing in the entire world, my dog Puma. I love the excitement she feels when I come home, seriously everyone should own a dog at least once in there life so they know how awesome it is to come home to one.
• Tomorrow I am suppose to receive my copy of Julie Flygare's first book "Wide Awake and Dreaming". I am beyond excited to read it on my flight home! Everyone I know, everyone who knows me or anyone with narcolepsy needs to read it. I haven't even read it yet but I know she's a phenomenal writer based off reading her blog the past three years! 

Five Things I Will Miss

• College soccer, a few of my teammates and the structured daily workouts that have kept me motivated and in shape up until now
• The fact that I could basically walk anywhere and everywhere and a car payment and gas money were irrelevant
• Photography Class & Art Students, being surrounded by art students and other photo students totally inspires you to try new things, explore new medias and all around just sparks your creativity. I will miss walking through those halls and seeing what everyone is up to these days!
• The Independence and ability to literally do whatever I want, whenever I want and having no one around to judge me for staying in my pajamas all Sunday
• I babysat a little girl named Abbey for the past year and a half, she is Four and really was a fun kid to be around. I will miss her and her awesome jokes. :)

Four Things I Look Forward Too

• Free Food, Free Laundry, and the occasional home cooked meal.
• Cable, It will be so nice to have a television again and being able to watch Ellen Degeneres and to watch Criminal Minds. 
• My family obviously, and my friends too. I will be able to see them when I want and catching up will no longer rely on a good internet connection for skype.
• Making money rather than spending money, it will be so nice to work again, I cannot wait to work my way out of this debt!

Three Things I Learned

• My dad was always a hard ass, my rules were sometimes strict but damn while moving out was a fun experience it definitely made me realize why my parents had rules. I may live in an apartment with "no rules" but some of these kids here have no morals and no conscience...So I suppose I learned to appreciate my parents a little bit of a lot more.
• Balance is key, my health comes first and a healthy balance is sometimes hard to maintain when there are one too many things I need to do and ten too many things I want to do. Narcolepsy can become ten times worse in just 24 hours of neglect, and it can take a lot longer than 24 hours to get it back on track.
• Just because you are good at something does not mean you have a responsibility to pursue it; Two All American Awards does not mean I need to go to any school to play soccer, it simply means I worked hard to get where I am and I am happy with where I am. If I wanted to be somewhere or if I wanted to do something, I would be there doing it. So to all the football boys and to the few soccer girl: I am happy not playing in the states anymore, I am happy pursuing my passions of traveling and photography.

Two Things I Highly Recommend You Do Over The Holidays

• Purchase this book to not only support and help a fellow narcoleptic but to also read it and learn something. Amazon: Author Julie Flygare Wide Awake & Dreaming
• Add Julie's REM Runner blog to your regular readings REM Runner Blog

One Thing I Will Do Today

• Ace my final exam in my Business Retailing Class.

Happy Holidays!

Sarah Beaulieu

You Might Want to Take Notes;

The thing I remember most about my narcolepsy when I was undiagnosed was school. Well that might be an ironic statement, I don’t remember much of school, I remember the struggle of school. I recall going to class and leaving class but never recall being in class. I would go home for the evening open up my notebook and see scribbles of notes I attempted to take. I would see the homework assignment, my notes, and realize I really don’t know how to do any of this. I am the type of person who hates asking for help, therefore I simply would just not do my homework, the vicious circle formed and soon I was slipping in class.

Now in college and having been diagnosed I am able to keep it together enough for classes...most of the time. This past week however I have had my fair share of micro sleeps and naps in class. While asleep I somehow always manage to still take notes…they never really make sense though…

What my writing usually looks like

Some Scribbles I apparently did...

What my writing turned into...really helpful notes ;)

Anyways haha, thought I would share my very informative notes I managed to make this week while sleeping in class.
Cheers

Sarah

worst kind of heartbreak;

Nothing says heartbreak like playing your last college game in America. Today was the end of it all, I knew going into the game that it could be my last game, but I never figured it would legitimately be my last. I pictured placing the ball in the back of the net a thousand times, got a good nights rest, stayed hydrated, iced, did everything in my own power I could to be prepared for today’s game. We all know that one person can’t win the game. It takes a team to win, and that’s something that this years group lacked. We weren’t ever a team, we faked it, and there was always drama between two or more people. It was just not our year, too bad for us sophomores because it was pretty apparent out there that we wanted it.

We had a brilliant first half, never gave up, and had great shots against our opponent. Sadly out of the 14 on net we came up with zero goals. The opponents well they had a total of 4 shots and 1 goal. Second half I felt like we put up a fight, we didn’t fight to win we fought to stay alive. I don’t think all of us can say we played our hearts out, I know we all didn’t leave everything we had in us on the field. That is what really gets to me. When I look at the clock, I am telling myself, 45 minutes left and you get that break, 30 minutes left, 10 left leave it all on the field, I even say it to my teammates…yet it didn’t get through. I don’t know if they just aren’t mentally strong or if they just don’t give a shit. Either way, I can’t change the outcome. I’m not happy with the end result, but I am certainly not disappointed with my own performance. Yes I could have better finished my shots, but I got shots away and I gave amazing passes to my teammates. I gave it my all, and although it wasn’t enough, I can’t be upset with myself. It was a great experience playing here in the states; it allowed me to do a lot of growing up. This won’t be the last game I play but it is the last game I will be playing here in the states. It’s a saddening way to go out, but it is what it is and I can only grow from it.

Now for the nine-hour bus ride home with a team that hates themselves and hates each other…oh joy.

My Parents are Pretty Smart;

I know I got lucky in the world of supportive family members when it comes to Narcolepsy. I have met many narcoleptics over the years of all ages, and honestly one of the main issues and contributors to their uncontrolled narcolepsy was the lack of support they got from there loved ones. It’s a huge stress when you feel misunderstood, when you constantly have to explain yourself or simply when someone says it’s all in your head. Trust me, I’ve been told plenty of times by peers, teachers, coaches and even teammates that it is all in my head or come on you can’t be that tired… or my favorite You’re lucky you can sleep whenever. It use to drive me nuts, it use to hurt my feelings, but sometimes you have to let those things go and just deal with the ones who understand or try to understand.

Lately I’ve had a tough go of it, I couldn’t even find the time to think any of my issues through, I felt like I was 14 again…Waking up and wondering when I fell asleep, wondering how long I’ve been out, and oh @!%# what time is it; am I suppose to be somewhere?! It’s an awful feeling but it’s a feeling all narcoleptics are faced with.

I finally had a bit of a break down last night, a bit of a realization thanks to my parents. I am finished my Photography certificate, the main reason I came to school in the first place. I only came back this year to play soccer and it was my choice to take on this Business Management Certificate. It was my decision, my parents had no influence on it, and I wasn’t trying to prove anything to anyone but myself. I hate failure; I hate struggling and worse I hate asking for help. With classes this year I am uninterested, unmotivated and struggling to find the time to do all the homework requirements. My schedule is busy, my narcolepsy gets worse with stress and with the never ending homework I am having trouble staying awake long enough to enjoy any of this school year. Did I mention I came back this year for fun, for the enjoyment of one more soccer season? Yes, apparently somewhere in the past 2 months I forgot to remind myself why I am here. Thankfully during a phone call with my two wonderful parents last night they reminded me to slow down, my health comes first. I’m not going to be disappointing anyone if I don’t pass a class, I’m not going to be a failure if I don’t get this certificate that I don’t need. I need to start remembering to eat, remembering to sleep, and reminding myself that I have 2 months left and this experience is over…I need to enjoy it and be able to look back on the good times, not the time I slept through it all!

Now I am saying screw grades, screw trying to get all A’s and B’s when I can have all C’s and D’s. My future is not at risk by taking these grades; I already accomplished good grades in my passion of Photography.

Now I must get back to homework so that I can go out to a movie tonight after practice…I need to have a social life again.

Cheers!

P.s

I am glad I have the parents I do, I never feel like I can't talk to them, I am constantly supported in all that I do, and most of all I am surrounded by their love. I couldn't ask for anything more from them, so thank you Mom & Dad.

My Bad;

We ended up loosing a game that we shouldn’t have lost, apparently loosing that game called for a 6am practice the next morning along with our usual 2pm practice. I understand our coach’s point but damn narcolepsy was not ready for this. My sleep schedule has been a little screwed as of late, simply just get 6-7 hours each night, going to 9am class and then sleeping 1-2 hours from 10-12 before heading to the training room. Not my ideal sleep schedule but I’ve been surviving. Throwing a 5am wake up call at me so that I could be at the school for 530 was not pretty.

I told myself I would go to bed early, I told myself I would shoot for 8 hours of sleep, 9pm bed time? Next thing you know its 10 and I’m not tired. I took some sleeping meds, tried to sleep but it was almost like narcolepsy had disappeared. I finally dosed off around 11:30 only to find myself awake at 1230, 2, 345, and 430. No such thing as sleeping the whole night through for this narcoleptic!

Now with it being 5am or 6am I can’t exactly take my meds or I’ll be passing out in class or passing out in the afternoon. I can’t exactly screw with the times I take it each day, especially that early in the morning. Well practice was a challenge but I did it. Next thing you know its 730 and I had class at 9am. Caitlin and I decided we would go to this really yummy bagel café, Brueggers. We had a delicious breakfast and then headed to school. I got there at 830; I was by myself, which probably was my first mistake. I had taken my Concerta, but apparently I was so far past tired that it wasn’t even going to make a difference. I took a seat down in the atrium, all I had to do was make it through 30 minutes then I would be in class able to listen to the instructor, doodle, etc. for 50 minutes. I was texting people to keep me awake, next thing you know I’m waking up and checking my phone. 920. Whoops, not what I had planned. How many people saw me asleep, how long have I been asleep!? I’ve missed 20 minutes of class and I am far too embarrassed to even think about walking into class late. I walked home, and went straight to bed. Fell asleep and slept for 3 hours straight. Felt so good to sleep but missing class kind of was a buzz kill. Oh well, can’t have everything.

Don't Understand What I Understood;

Financial Accounting is the hardest class I have ever taken simply because I find nothing fun about it. I honestly feel like it is the last career I ever want to engage in, and it mind boggles me that my brother is an accounting major. This class which is Monday to Thursday 9-10am is just a huge mind explosion in the morning. Miss a single class and you will sit there having an anxiety attack for the rest of the classes during that week. Not to mention the minimum of an hour of homework each night that he assigns, an hour is for those who completely understand it...I usually take a wee bit longer!
Basically what I am trying to say is that this class is not for me, and I honestly feel lost in it as if I literally don't comprehend a single thing in the class. The messed up part of it all is that my grades are awesome in the class. I have yet to fail a pop quiz, assignment or an exam...knock on wood. 87% in the class currently which works out to be a B+. It frustrates me to no end though that I don't understand how I am getting these grades, I walk away from each test thinking "I hope those guesses will get at least some half points". Anyways, that's the life of school I suppose, can't understand everything, but I'll take the pass in the class.
In other news soccer is going well this season, I really hope it continues this way through Regionals which is in two weeks. Provided we win Regionals we will find ourselves packing our bags to head to Nationals which is once again in Dryden, New York. Fingers crossed we make it happen! My body is falling apart, but taping my ankles before every game and practice has allowed me to continue to participate and play my 90 minutes. I can rest mid November when it all is over!
I am off to hang out with a few teammates for the evening. Tomorrow we have our home game in the evening at 7pm. During the day I plan on attending the Mens Football game which is also home! Should be a windy day so I'll be dressing warm!!!
Happy Napping!  =)

Nailed it;

Trying to describe what it feels like to have narcolepsy is next to impossible, you have so many things you want to try to explain but its sometimes too frustrating to try and give a good description.
I just finished reading Julie Flygare's recent blog and honestly it is the best blog post I've read in a long time.
Seriously take a look and read through it, it nails narcolepsy and what most of us narcoleptics have gone through. Whether we were surviving before we were diagnosed or we are at the point when we have it "together" enough to function as a normal human being we still have our daily struggles with daytime sleepiness.

Best most relatable article I'll be reading in a long time!

Sleep's Choice: Living with Narcolepsy's Excessive Daytime Sleepiness

Happy Reading! =)

one crazy month down, 4 to go;

If anyone other than my parents still reads this I owe you an apology. I am sorry, I haven’t forgotten about this blog I just haven’t had moments to myself in the past 30 days. I haven’t blogged on a bi-weekly or monthly basis in a long time. I vow to make a better effort starting now.

For starters, this month has been crazy busy. It started out with preseason; practising twice a day for 16 days. First day we did a fitness test, I finished top two much to my surprise. Second day I was in the top 3 for sprints and at the second practise on the second day… Just my luck I ended up getting injured. I basically took a tackle from behind when I had the ball, toppled over on my ankle and took a pretty good step on the side of my ankle. Yes it hurt, but I was more heartbroken about the amount of practise I’d be missing, the amount of fitness I’d be missing. It was tough, but with crutches and a walking cast I made my recovery in 10 days. No the swelling wasn’t completely out, nor was the bruising, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from playing in our scrimmage games. The tape job is practically a cast, but it allows me to play with no pain! Haha. This just might be my last college season, this just might be the end of my competitive role in the world of soccer, and therefore I definitely am going to make the most of it. I won’t be sitting out, no way no how.

Our scrimmage games went well, we lost the first one 2-0, but honestly for our team having been new and all the injuries we were going through I was thoroughly impressed. The second scrimmage we worked hard, hard enough to win against our opponent with 2-1. The game really could have gone either way, but we were working really well together as a team.

Our first game of the season, our first game of our conference was in Bismarck, North Dakota. Approximately a 9-hour drive, I chose not to take my meds for the bus ride, skip the day. We left at 6am, and since I barely slept the night before, I knocked right out for a solid 8 of the 9 hours! It was really nice to practically wake up and just be there. We had the day to get a light practise in and then bed before our game the next afternoon. We played at noon, it was extremely hot out, for the Americans it was about 95 degrees, and for the rest of the world, it was 35 degrees! When you play on artificial grass aka turf, the field is about 5-10 degrees hotter. It’s awful on the feet, and due to the heat I ended up with more than enough blisters for the entire soccer team. It was rather disgusting and rather a pain to heal! As for the outcome of the game, we came out with a win 2-0. It was a well-fought game, we really should have scored some more, but a win is a win!

School on the other hand is becoming a struggle. Its been a few years since I’ve actually “hit the books”. I was an art major, no art isn’t an easy major and I spent countless hours on homework…but art homework is fun and it was all part of the career I wanted and still want to enter. Now that I received my diploma I have decided to get my Business Management Certificate. Classes are not only difficult, but the homework is boring and uninteresting. Financial Accounting will be the death of me this semester. It’s so incredibly confusing, you mess up one part of the statements and you mess up the entire statement! It’s already caused me a few sleepless nights and I am only just barely 2 weeks into school. I will however pass it; I will get this certificate!

In other news, well I have no other news since my life revolves around eating, sleeping, soccer and school. Haha, no complaints though…I did willingly sign up for this shenanigans.

I’ll be back with an update hopefully in the next 2 weeks, even if it is a brief one!

xx

bittersweet;

Skipping a nap because you don’t want to miss out on something, not making a decision about plans for your Friday until you get the best offer, whatever it may be I am pretty sure I’ve been guilty. I’ve learned to stop having expectations, I’ve learned the less I know about a situation the better time I usually have. Things like asking whose all going to be there before I decide if I am going to go the social gathering or the party. Spur of the moment decisions are the best and I truly believe that, maybe that’s why I am good at procrastinating. That probably is the reason backpacking attracts me, not knowing exactly what I’m doing each day, it intrigues me I suppose. Too much of unknown things bored me…

Where am I going with this blog, I have no idea. I’ve had some difficulty staying sane these past few days. I have hated this city, I have loved this city, and I have resented being in this city, but yet I am not ready to leave. This city is nothing like home, not a place I dream of calling home, but it’s a city that I’ve had a lot of experiences in. Moving away, not knowing a single soul, living on my own, attending college. I wouldn’t say I am all grown up, but compared to 10 months ago, I feel like I have grown up.

I can’t find the time to pack, I have the time, I just can’t find the energy to pack up. It’s almost like I don’t want to leave, I am not ready to leave, and that’s why I can’t pack up my things. 10 months ago I wasn’t ready to leave, I was terrified of leaving home. I was terrified of loosing friends, missing out on things, not having experiences shared with my best friends. Now I’m terrified of leaving here and loosing friends. I only have a few months of being good friends with some of these people, how can I be sure in 80 or 90 days when I come back here that we can start where we left off? I can’t be sure, and for that I am bothered by it. My good friends back home, some of the best I know are people that I have shared many experiences with, we all keep in touch through blogging (personal blogs) and we all catch up within moments of seeing each other. I use to worry about getting off track, but I know now that we’re all capable of keeping in touch because I’ve lived through it. Having friends all over the map, well this is a new one. Although there are people here I don’t much care for, there are about 5 I do. Out of those 5, how many will I ever see again? It just is something that’s been on my mind, something that is making it difficult for me to pack my things.

Not everyone you meet, become friends with, or become best friends with are meant to stay in your life. No matter how much you want them too, every relationship you have is a two way street. It’s something I need to remember; I often find myself working hard to keep a friendship alive when in the end my time could be better spent. My friendships made here, everyone that walked in and out of my life, either made my time here more enjoyable or taught me a lesson. I guess it’s time I leave I it up to faith to decide who sticks around in my life and who was only temporary.

While I’ve just posted about meaningless thoughts, I think its time I cracked a beer open and went to work on packing my things. I’ll end this with some pictures as some of you have requested I post pictures more often! ;) Also, i get i am going to school for photography...don't mind the complete %#^$ quality of the following photographs, they were all taken with my ipod touch! Haha!

 Happy thoughts

Day of setting up gallery; notice the tea in hand. Tired Narcoleptic!

Images up on the wall, all printed at 20" x 30"

Opening Night of the Gallery, Happy Narcoleptic!

Abstract Painting I had to make for class

Self Portrait Painting I had to make

Painting I made for a good friends birthday (his favourite cartoon!)

Drawing before painting it, from the movie UP! by Pixar

Final Painting, Up! by Pixar

Lady & The Tramp, Just a painting I did for fun 

Long Awaited;

I owe you all an update on my life. I am sorry to those who actually read this blog on a regular basis, but I have been lacking this past month! I am going to blame it on life and me having my priorities somewhat in a scuffle. I am not slacking in school or anything but I have added more to my daily plate with workouts and it seems to be bettering me but also knocking time out of my day to finish everything; hence me failing to blog regularly.

For starters school is in the last stretch, close to finishing up this photography program and having all these late nights and tedious projects be worth it. My painting and drawing class aka 2D Design has been a rather large learning curve for me. I can honestly say this class has been enlightening to me. It has helped my photography in the sense of thinking about composition in a more thoughtful way, and really thinking about how colours communicate to a viewer different emotion. For that I am thankful I took the class, for the amount of work it put me through each week outside of class I dread it!

My intermediate photography class has a project that lasts 5 weeks; each week you take 576 photographs. Each week you print your 5 favourites, get a critique from your classmates and move on. At the end of it all you choose 20, they have to have a common theme, they have to flow together. It’s been challenging for me, I chose night shooting; it’s my favourite time to shoot inanimate objects. The sun goes down around 830pm right now, which leaves me photographing late at nights. It’s hard to always find people to tag along with me, and it’s hard to take 576 photographs a week when one photograph has the exposure of 30 seconds!! It will definitely be interesting selecting my final 20, not sure where I am going with this project!

My Photo lighting class has been enlightening; we had a guest speaker the other day. He is a commercial photographer who makes a living off of photographing inanimate objects. He photographs anything from air duct systems to construction sites. He does a lot of work, and makes a good living off of it. After listening to him talk, and hearing what he does each day to make his living, I have decided that I love photographing people, and the commercial side is something that I don’t see myself in. Although I could make money photographing a piping system, I don’t get the enjoyment out of photographing something I can’t interact with. As far as the class goes, it is kicking my ass right now. Having to book studio time and not being able to take lighting equipment off campus for a shoot makes it crucial that I plan a schedule and that I make use of my 2 hours in the studio. Almost done though!

Art Portfolio is my photography class in which has a gallery showing where we show a project that we’ve made out of our own passions. Ongoing projects are more about fine arts and creating a series of themed images based on an interest or investigating a topic. For me I investigated self-image and how we as humans (mainly females) have learnt to see ourselves. It was an interesting project for me, I don’t see myself as self-conscious so I’ve never really thought about it. Exploring self-image allowed me to really see the issues women have with themselves these days, the constant need to change the way they look. I am happy with the outcome of my images, and I am happy to have them in this gallery showing. I however am intrigued to hear the responses from those viewing them. The show opens April 17^th, so I will let you know the response I get from everyone! I will also post images of them up in the gallery!

Now that we are up to date on school I will fill you in on my spare time! I am still taking the energy supplement V16 Energy Drink from Advocare. It is still working wonderfully and is a great pick me up before my daily workouts. I have started to workout in a more intense manner than before. After soccer season I would run, I would do stairs, simple things here and there to maintain my shape. Now however I have decided to step it up, running at least 2 miles a day and working in either an arm workout or legs. On top of this all, a few of us soccer girls have been doing sprints to help get us back in “soccer season” shape. Although it’s making me extremely sore and tired in the moment… I am finding it giving me more energy in the long run! Having teammates to train with is just making it that much easier to stick with; motivation is always around me!

That is that for the update!  I get to go back to Canada in 34 days, I will be leaving to Europe in 38 days and really I just want to get my summer on the way! I am incredibly excited for what this summer will bring, a huge learning curve will probably be on order the moment I set foot in Europe. Until then, time to remain focused on school and getting myself out of here sane!

Till next time! 

Welcome 2012;

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I hope 2012 brings you nothing but positive energy and some great naps.

I am sorry it has been so long!  I have had some serious home time that has allowed me to see the friends, family and loves till 2 am and sleep till noon. My bed has never been so comfy. I am dreading having to go back to that single bed in Minnesota. Home sweet home, seriously. You don’t realize how much you love something until you are forced to be apart from it for months at a time. I am forever grateful for my family and friends and this beautiful city I call home.

My Christmas has been amazing. It’s been a few years since we’ve been home for Christmas. Last year we did the hot Christmas in Beautiful Panama; just near Costa Rica. My goodness, beautiful place! I am however happy that this year we are at home! I missed my house; I missed the free food and laundry. Anyways Christmas Eve’s Day was spent on the bathroom floor due to my error in not fully understand pacing yourself. That evening however I went out to family friends, finally allowing my body consumes food. It was wonderful to see the family friends, have a few laughs and then hurry home to get to bed before Santa arrived! My parents were super generous this year, and by that I mean Santa got me just what I wanted/needed! My parents were happy with their gifts, as well with my brother. Seriously I love giving gifts and having the person receiving it get all happy! I got my mom a Coffee Mug with out family photo in it, and then 2 charms for her Pandora Bracelet. I got the father a Flask that had “Learned from the Best” engraved on it. The brother got 6 shirts, the plain v-neck ones that he wears everywhere. Assorted colors of course, and the reason for 6…Urban Outfitters had a stupid awesome deal I couldn’t resist! My grandma always talks about the arts and crafts I did when I was little; painting flowerpots, drawing, painting little statues…anything artsy! Well seeing as she made a comment on how I don’t make those things anymore I took myself out to the crafts store. Bought myself 2 Christmas ornament statue like things. Got some paint, and spent my afternoon having fun proving her wrong. I love painting artifacts. She adored them of course and thought I had bought them already painted! ;)

As for what I received the list is wonderful! I got a pair of Ugg boots; they have got to be just the comfiest things out there! I got a new belt; I desperately needed a new brown leather one. My dad happened to find a perfect one! My brother got me this amazing blazer that I have wanted forever! It’s really cute; it can be worn with dressy clothes or with a pair of jeans. I adore it and am looking forward to wearing it! I also got a bracelet; it’s of Pandora type style and idea but a lot less expensive and really cute! I like it, and my mama put on a few charms; soccer ball, camera, heart, peace sign, luggage. It’s really quite cute! It was a successful Christmas morning and next was my favorite part… DINNER! I love my mom’s cooking’s, and I love my mom. I helped her here and there in between watching television with my brother, skyping with my friends and all that good stuff. Finally 5 o clock rolled around and dinner was served. Another amazing meal, for free and with the loved ones! I am so thankful for my family and being able to be with them over the holidays!

Well school starts up here in a week and with a 3.5 GPA from last semester I am happy to start the next! I am looking forward to more photography, more excitement! However I do kind of wish it was closer to home. I love the idea of travelling, but I don’t like the idea of living this far away from home. I don’t love the city enough to have that desire to be there. I will make the best of it though because miserable days make the time drag on! American spring break is Middle of March; a few of us have been talking about FLORIDA! The guys live there; so we’d have accommodation and the beach is 10 minutes away! What’s not to love about the situation! My dad even offered to allow me to dig into my “education fund” for some help with finding the money. I have the funds for it, but my excitement lies in the possibility of me doing a Europe trip in May! My dad however believes Florida would be a great idea and a great experience that is part of college. He said I shouldn’t throw Florida out the window just because I want to do Europe. I should compromise and do both and he’s willing to help. I love my father for that. The fact that he enforces me to travel and see things, do things is awesome. He’s travelled the world with work and he has come to find that it is the quickest way to learn about yourself, learn about the world and to learn to adapt at quick rates! I look forward to all the travelling I will be doing in my future.

Europe is on the agenda for leaving 3rd week of May. My friend is from Scotland and was going to go back for a visit. I thought, why not turn it into a trip!? We have discussed briefly on where we want to go, what we want to see and how much we want to spend. We will do the UK (Scotland, England) for about a week, visiting his friends/family. Next we’d get into Netherlands and travel through 4 countries. Hitting up the following cities; Amsterdam, Bruges, Brussels, Paris, Bordeaux, and ending in Barcelona. Of course we have room for hitting other cities but those are the main places we decided on getting too. We’d be gone for 4 weeks, and I have thoughts about staying another 2-4 weeks. I want to get to Italy & Greece. The places I want to see are endless, too bad my funds aren’t!

Well Narci needs a good nights rest! I’ve been getting a serious 10-12 hour sleep every night I’ve been home. It’s been amazing; I love the holidays! Although I did get Strep Throat, I managed to get antibiotics and get right back out there as long as I was on my Tylenol and Advil! I couldn’t risk staying home any days and not seeing my friends with the limited time I have! Also oddly enough my naps have been next to none, I’ve just had so much energy! I’ve been going to the gym as much as possible, trying to stay in shape with all the baked goods my mama has been feeding me! Hopefully my energy level sticks around for one more week! I got friends to see and things to do!

Good night all and have a good week!

Surprise!

This week was full of surprises, full of lies and full of fun! My parent’s 25^th wedding anniversary is December 20^th. It’s crazy in this day and age for couples to make it that many years, I am thankful that they did and that they have been wonderful role models! December is an awful time to get together friends, not an awful time but just people leave town, have family to see and are generally really stressed around Christmas. When planning a party I took that into consideration and decided American Thanksgiving Weekend would be a great time to have a party. I have school off and so I could potentially fly home to Canada for the party.

Keeping secrets is generally pretty easy for me, I am a good bullshitter…not my best feature…but in the situation of planning a surprise anniversary party it comes in handy! I hate lying to my parents, I hate having to keep track of my lies and make other people aware of what lie I told. Since July I have been lying and planning a party. Finally this weekend it all came to a sweet end!

First surprise went a little like this…My parents thought I was going to be spending American Thanksgiving with my friend Natalia. We were doing black Friday shopping…leaving at 3am to get to the Mall of America in time! My Dad knew about the surprise party for their anniversary. (I had to tell him because with his work I had to ensure he had it booked off well in advance!). My dad called 2 weeks ago and offered me a flight home for the party. He said mom would be disappointed to see a party I planned and not to have me attend. I told him that although I would love to fly home, I missed a week of school for New York and am super behind in dark room time. I need all the days in the darkroom I can get! He said he understood and appreciates that I take my schooling so serious. Seeing as paying for a plane ticket would show up on my credit card bill, which my parents can see with their online banking I had to borrow a little help. My brother has a credit card, with a small limit and only he ever see’s what is purchased with it. We paid off his entire bill and waited to find flights that were ‘reasonable’. Finally found one, had to leave on a Tuesday late at night but I’ll do anything to be home! Tuesday the 22^nd I landed at midnight, my best friend picked me up and we caught up on old times! Next morning would be surprise #1! My friend went to my door, put my luggage on the step and rang the doorbell. My mother came to the door, was surprised to see Natalya and was confused when Nat said “Sarah sent me her luggage home, I don’t know what to do with it so I am dropping it here before I am off to work”. My mom looked at the luggage and pondered…seriously confused. Just as that was happening I came out from behind the tree and said, just kidding I brought home the luggage myself! My mom started crying, questioning how I got home without her knowledge and every other question that you could think of! It was a grand surprise and I seriously made her week! She suspected nothing of me coming home, just that I was simply home sick! Next my father was coming home that day and he was arriving around 6:30pm. I decided to do a little surprise for him too. When he got in the door my brother went and helped him with his luggage, talked with him in the kitchen…you know…the normal father son catching up. After about 5 minutes of normal conversation I tip toed down stairs and said “Hi Dad, SURPRISE!” He was shocked, happy to see me and said “No wonder mom wanted me to text her right when I got home!” Surprise number 1 check!

The whole 3 days I had before the party I kept lying and saying I was out with friends for dinner or out visiting friends for coffee. Really I was doing last minute things with my brother to make sure the party went smoothly!

Party went great, all the guests brought a dish of food, and it was like a potluck party. It saved us money on food. It was great amounts of fun, my mom was shocked and she was initially upset she didn’t dress up enough cause she thought it was just a “café concert”…luckily her smart daughter packed her a dress a heels. The night went great, they were really happy to have had a party and that the turn out was so good! We had close to 50 people there!

Anyways I am at the airport because I have to fly back to Minnesota. 5 days is not near enough time to hang out with all my friends. I can’t wait for 20 days to pass and I can be home for a few weeks at Christmas!
Back to school for me, oh joy! 

yes doctor i'll take some of that;

Maybe its the fact that Narcolepsy might be an Immune system disorder; it would explain why every time someone even gets the sniffles I get a real nice cold.
10 days of being sick, 10 days of having no voice in the morning, and 10 days of feeling sleepless. My body aches, I sleep for 12 hours and I still feel drained. Even thinking about going to the gym makes me tired. Last night I had 3 naps. I haven't done that since before I was medicated!! I had a nap before the boys came over for dinner. My 4 best guy friends here wanted a home cooked meal and I promised I would do so once my season finished. Cooking for 4 football boys, all over 200 pounds was a task! Anyways next nap was after dinner when we were on our way out to a girls bonfire in the country. My oh my she has a cute little farm house! We had fun, but 12:30 came around and I curled up on the lawn chair and started my nap... luckily one of the boys was leaving to go back home so he got me up to leave. I got home and of course since I napped I was up for another hour or so. 2am came around, and I was out.
Today I went to the doctor though, my body obviously needed some help getting over this illness. Got some antibiotics for this sinus infection and I hope to feel better in 5 days or sooner. Fingers crossed because I am exhausted!!
On a side note, i'll have exciting news for you all in about a 10 days if everything goes as planned! So i'll keep you posted!

Have a good weekend!

Can you say New York?

I am super excited about life right now! Today’s game was our make it or break it moment with soccer. If we won, we would be Regional Champions, if we lost our season would be over. The game was against a team we had played twice in normal season. We managed to beat them once, but also had lost to them once. The pressure was on and honestly the game could have gone either way. Whoever won this game, not only got the regional champion title, but also get’s to go to Nationals. Nationals are held in New York this year! My little Canadian self has yet to go there, and would really like to go when it’s paid for!

After getting our pre-game speech and warming up, it was time to start the game. We dominated the pitch, moving the ball around, creating chances; sadly not finishing any of our chances in the first 45minutes. It doesn’t matter who has the ball the most in the game, it’s really about finishing your chances. If the other team managed to get a single shot off and use there chance to the best of there ability…we’d be screwed. Second half went better; I managed to get a shot off from about 35 out and score. It was with 20 minutes left, we were playing defensive, at least attempting too. Everyone was so nervous, so worried that it got to us and we had a wee bit of a screw up in the back. Our opponent came back with a goal with 10 minutes to go. Both teams were well “freaking out”. You could tell by the way everyone was playing, it was a mess out on the field, something we call Kick Ball…its not pretty!

With a tie at the end of the regular 90-minute game we went into golden goal. Golden goal, which is played in two ten-minute halves. If a team scores, it’s over. Next goal wins is pretty much the basis of the rule. Neither team managed to score in either of the 10 minutes given. Now it was up to penalty kicks; the goalie of each team faces off with 5 different players of the team. One shot at a time from about 10 or 15 yards out; to be honest I can’t remember the rule. Either way, each player is given the ball, they can place it on the spot indicated, and when the ref blows the whistle you can take your shot. These are the types of shots that are the hardest to stop for a goalie. They have to first of guess which side you’ll be shooting to, and even if they guess right, there reaction is going to have to be quick. Our coach picked 5 girls who she thought have the best penalty kicking skills, I was one of them.

First shooters; both shooters scored… tied 1-1

Second shooters; our goalie stopped the shot…we scored… we’re up 2-1

Third shooters; bother shooters scored….3-2

Fourth shooters; our goalie stopped the shot… now I was the fourth shooter for my team. If I scored, we didn’t have to go to the fifth shooter. I always do my penalty kick to the left of the net (goalies right). Our opponent’s goalie though wasn’t standing in the middle of the net, and she was getting a glove or at least real close on the past three shots. I was extremely nervous and didn’t want to get my shot stopped. I’ve never practiced going to the right like I’ve practiced going to the left. Honestly when I was setting up my ball on the spot, I didn’t even know which was I was going to shoot. My mind was going a mile a minute, contemplating. I took my 6 steps back, tapped my right toe against the ground, and tapped my left. (I seriously have a ritual I do before every free kick, penalty kick…the exact same steps and the exact same toe taps. Haha.) The ref blew the whistle; I stood there for probably 2-3 seconds before taking my run. Seriously, didn’t decide which way I was shooting until about 3 steps into my 6. I went to the right (goalies left)… the goalie dived the other way so there was no way she was getting it. We won Regional’s on that note and now we get to go to Nationals in New York. It was an extremely exciting day. I can’t wait to leave on Halloween for the 19-hour drive. I have no expectations for Nationals; of course I would love to win, but making it to nationals is an accomplishment in itself.

I will be missing a week of school though, so that should be interesting! Working hard this week to get ahead!

Later!

midterm grade check;

From Team Trip to Chicago, IL

Near Downtown in Rochester

Near Downtown

Grade check, as in our Midterm grades have come out of hiding. Its that time of year where you see where exactly you're at; if you need to get your act together or if you're succeeding. Thankfully I am able to give myself a pat on the back; I have a 3.75 GPA. 

Darkroom Class: 91%

Digital Photography: 97%

Business Class: 89%

Drug Use & Abuse: 95% (GPA/Credit boost class)

That is seriously something I have not had since I was in my Sophomore year of high school. I am super proud of it, especially since it's soccer season and I have had to miss a few classes here and there. Looks like I will be continuing to keep up with my school work because these A's are satisfying. Just goes to show that when you're studying something you enjoy, it's that much easier to dedicate your energy to achieving good grades. I however feel that I would never be able to take more than 4 classes at once. Especially when I have my one class that is simple and I barely have to do anything; its basically just a GPA/credit booster.

Also these last few days have been a little weird. I have had some solid hallucinations before going to bed in the evening and when my alarm goes off in the morning. I don't think its because I am not getting enough sleep, I think it is a lack of naps. I need to start napping in the day again and get back on a better schedule. Also I have noticed a lack in my nutrition; although I eat healthy compared to many of the people I live with or play soccer with... I lack my daily intake of nutrients. I bought some supplements; the Women's Teen Advantage one a day. I bought the teen one because it had high levels of the vitamin A, B6, D, and magnesium. Technically I am still a "teen" as well...eight teen. With that I also got a Vitamin C-250 and an Iron supplement. I know for a fact I am not getting enough Iron because I find it difficult to eat a lot of red meat or seafood or almonds. I hate almonds unless they are chocolate covered!! Either way; I have found that in the two days I've been taking them I have more energy and I am more lively. Hopefully they help me get all the nutrients I need on top of what I already eat! I know they say freshman 15... but since arriving here I have lost 13 lbs. I didn't need to loose the weight, in fact I was happy with my weight, but with all the running and training we did I have managed to slim down. I feel that I am at a good weight and I feel generally healthier. If I gain any weight back I sure hope it's in muscle! That would be awesome.

I am staying in Rochester this weekend, no away games or any travelling with our team. It should be nice to just sit at home; go to bed in my own bed. Will keep you updated in the future. I can't think of anything else I have to say... am I forgetting to mention anything?

Ciao